Life in College
by LittleBunny-BunnyCottage
Summary: Friendships being put to the test? Problems and obstacles faced in relationships? A mysterious girl breaking peace apart? Evil plans of an enemy? How would Sonic and his gang get through college in one piece? How are things going to end? Read to find out! Sonamy, Taiream, some Tailsmo, and Knuxikal!
1. Chapter 1 - The Usual College Drama

_**Hello everyone, this is my first fanfiction! Hope y'all enjoy it! :) Pls drop in a review after reading, thanks!**_

_**Before reading the actual story, there are some stuff I think y'all should know...**_

_**1. Sonic and his gang are all 20 to 21 years old, so they still have two years to go before graduating. Currently, they are in their third's year first term.**_

_**2. Sonic and Tails share a room, Knuckles and Shadow each have their own room, and the two girls share a room together.**_

_**Well, that's all! Enjoy the story! :D**_

* * *

**CHAPTER ONE : THE USUAL COLLEGE DRAMA**

"Oh no no no... I overslept! Now I'm almost late for the morning class! Ugh, why do the corridors have to be soo long..."Sonic was already running at maximum speed but it still took him some time to get to the Caring for Chaos and Medication lecturing hall.

Meanwhile, in the Caring for Chaos and Medication lecturing hall...

"Knuckles, have you seen Sonic? I did not see him for the whole morning..."Amy asked Knuckles, and obviously from her talking voice, she was worried.

"No, I have not."Knuckles replied her in a I-do-not-care tone.

At the same time, Tails sighed, "Oh boy, Sonic must have overslept again."

Suddenly, a sentence twitched into Tails's ears. "...Sonic is so damn useless."

"How could you say that! Sonic is so brave! Ah... he is my hero..."Amy is eventually starting to dream about the heroic times of Sonic. Again.

However, Tails did not let go of Knuckles so easily...

Tails was facing backwards to Knuckles, so he said, "Knuckles, do you mind if you turn around for a sec?"

"Sure, what?"Knuckles immediately turned around and...

_VOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMM!_

Tails rotated his tails to create a big wind. The wind was blown directly at Knuckles face.

"HEY! What the- ?! What are you- ?!" Knuckles used his large fists to block as much wind as possible. But unfortunately, his cool hair was all messy afterward.

"HA! Take that, KnuckleHead!"Tails laughed hysterically at Knuckles' ridiculous hairdo.

"Ugh... I almost used up the whole morning to make my hair!"

"Hmm... Interesting..."A deep voice spoke.

"Huh?" Three of them turned their heads to where the voice came from. It was Shadow!

"Oh, Shadow! Err... What's so interesting?"Tails looked at him in complete bazaar.

"Nothing."Shadow answered coldly.

_SWOOOSHHHHHHH ! _Along with that swooshing sound, there was a blue figure! SONIC!

"Hey guys! Luckily the lecturer hadn't arrived, so what's up?"Sonic waved to his gang as his comes to a stop.

Amy ran to Sonic. "Ohhh! Sonic, you're here! Where were you? I've been waiting for sooo long!"she said sweetly.

"Hey Sonic!"Tails waved to him, "I saved a seat for you! C'mon!" Tails wanted to tease again for oversleeping but he resisted the temptation since Amy was there. Don't want a guy's lover to see the un-cool side of him, right?

As Sonic walked to his seat, he saw Shadow standing beside his seat, alone, with his usual cold look.

"Hi ya, Shadow."Sonic approached him. With Amy, of course, who was practically sticking to him.

"Hey." Shadow replied with a slight smile. He looked really cold on the outside, but in the inside, he felt pretty good. Rarely a guy in the whole college said 'hello' to him.

A moment later, when Sonic was just about to say something to Shadow, Tails bursted out saying, "Sonic, I've almost forgotten! KnuckleHead was …" Tails explained everything that happened, including the part where he blew his hair.

"How dare you even say _that _part! My beautiful hair... I was going to chat with Tikal on the webcam after class, now how am I suppose to talk to her with this?!" Knuckles pointed his messy hair angrily. His whole body was even redder than normal.

"All right, all right, I'll solve your hair problem after class."Sonic raised his eyebrows, waiting for a reply.

"After class? Won't it be too-"

"And before you chat with Tikal. Deal?"Sonic emphasized the word 'and' to reassured him.

"Alright." Knuckles replied.

"Ahem!"A familiar coughing sound made the whole gang turned their heads to the direction of the sound.

Only one thought is in their's minds : Uh oh, the lecturer arrived.

"Miss Rose, Mr Echida, Mr Prower, and Mr Hedgehogs."The lecturer lifted her spectacles in a matter-of-fact way, and continued, "Is my presence unnoticeable?"

"Whoops."Sonic wanted to slap his own forehead for being so stupidly unalerted.

"Go to your seats!"The lecturer ordered them.

Everyone watch in silence as they all returned to their seats with their heads down. Knuckles murmured some nasty words. Shadow was the only one who still had a calm face.

Moments later, the lecturer turned her attention from the gang and back to all the students. She lowered her voice, and began her lecture for the day, "Now then, I'm going to teach you the advance medication..."

**XXXXX**

"Uh, I hate that lecturer. She even dare to ask us her unnoticeability! For hell's sake, she does not make any noise when she walks! How are we suppose to even _notice _her if she is pure unnoticeable?!" Knuckles complained, as he carried his pile of notes.

"Oh well, but it was our own choice to take the 'Caring for Chao and Medication' course."Sonic sighed, and added, "But I also admit I hate that lecturer."

As they were walking to the cafeteria, a lovely, sweet voice called out to them : "Hey! Why the long faces? That lecturer again, huh?"It was Cream, who is now walking towards them with a small pile of graphic drawings.

"Oh, Cream!"Amy's face lighten up at the sight of her good friend."Yeah, that lecturer is such a know-it-all. We love the course but we hate that annoying lecturer."

"Aww, everything will be okay after a cup of tea and a nice buttery croissant."Cream told her, smiling warmly.

"Yup! C'mon, let's go grab a place for -" Amy turned back her head to look at all the boys who were still talking to each other, "well, all of us."

Cream giggled. Then, the two girls walked to the cafeteria.

At the same time, the boys...

"Should we invite Shadow to come with us?"suggested Sonic.

"What?" Knuckles looked at him, as if he has just asked a stupid question, "Why?"

"Cause' he is lonely. Shouldn't we be friendly or something? He and Maria was... before... _you know. _I don't think he has got over that thing."

"Fine, fine, whatever you say. I do pity that dude in some way."replied Knuckles.

"I agree with Sonic."said Tails supportively. He added a sentence, "I miss Cosmo too." in his own thinking.

"Alrighty,"Sonic clapped his hands and rubbed it. He was feeling quite nervous himself, it felt weird to have a guy be all friendly and oh-join-us to another guy. "You guys go to the cafeteria. Meet up with Amy and Cream."Sonic paused, and added, "Buy five chilli dogs for me. See ya!" He ran away after finishing his sentence, because Shadow was already walking further and further. After all that running in the morning, Sonic really doesn't want to be running like mad again.

Sonic caught up to him quickly in a few seconds, "Hey, err, Shadow."

"Hey."Shadow replied shortly.

"Wanna join us?"asked Sonic straightaway.

Shadow was kinda shocked by the question, he daydreamed for some moments and then replied, "Maybe next time. I got something on my sleeves I need to attend to."His voice tone was still flat and emotionless, but from the looks of his face, he does have important things to do. And he does.

"Okay. Then next time it is."Sonic smiled and ran back to the cafeteria.

Shadow looked at the blue running figure, and thought, "You're cool, Sonic. I'll surely join y'all next time." He smiled a little at the thought, and was happy that someone showed concern to him.

Back in the cafeteria...

"Ahh... You were right, Cream. A cup of tea does make things better."Amy sipped her tea and ate a small bite of the croissant. Cream smiled in agreement.

The boys had bought their food, and was walking towards the table. Amy saw the mini mountain of chilli dogs immediately on Tails' tray, and noticed that Sonic wasn't with them.

"Oooh, those chilli dogs must be Sonic's. He's crazy to be eating so much chilli dogs everyday."Amy shook her head slightly as she spoke. Then, she asked, "Where is Sonic anyway?"

"I'm here!"The person who replied was Sonic. He had come to the cafeteria.

"I thought you were bringing Shadow?"Tails whispered to Sonic when he saw no one was beside him.

"He had some stuff to attend to. He'll join us next time."Sonic whispered back, but loud enough for Knuckles to hear too.

"Why are you all standing there with your food? Sit down and eat! We didn't served these seats for nothing!"Cream laughed at them.

"Oh yeah, right..."The boys said, sitting down.

When they all sat down comfortably, Knuckles reminded Sonic once again about his hair, "Sonic, my hair? Later?"

"I remember, 'kay? Tikal won't even recognize you when I'm done with your hair."teased Sonic.

"Hey, don't try to do anything funny to my -"

"No, he wasn't."Amy took part in the conversation, "He is an expert in making the no-hair-do. He'll cut off all your hair so that you won't worry about messy hair anymore. I'm sure you will be very satisfied with the results."Amy tried to talk seriously, but she could not stop herself from laughing after finishing.

Everyone burst into laughters at Amy's humor! But no one realized that a camera-like gadget was above the glass ceiling of the cafeteria, taking photos and recording their conversation...


	2. Chapter 2 - A Crazy Ending Term

**CHAPTER TWO : A CRAZY ENDING TERM**

"Muahahaha! Everything is going as plan!"Eggman laughed evilly and historically at the thought of his plan, "Oh hoho! My inventions are just fantastic!"

A female voice groaned from behind. In the dark, only a pair of emerald yellow eyes could be seen. Then, in a calm tone, the voice said, "Enough laughing, Eggman. Now, what do you want me to do?"

"Oh right,"Eggman finally stopped laughing, and began to get serious. "Your job is easy... You just..." He explained her part in the plan carefully to her.

She smirked at her job, and said, "Is that all? This is just too easy!"

"Every part has to be done perfectly."Eggman said, "Or I will not succeed."

Moments later, Eggman's voice became deep and dangerous. He got up from his chair, stood right in front of the girl, and said, "If I do notsucceed because of _you_, you'll get the _consequences_."He pronounced the last word with a hiss.

"You need not worry me."The girl swang her light indigo colored hair. The air surrounding immediately had a dreamy atmosphere, as if thousands of crystals had fell from the sky and was now flowing around her.

Her emerald-yellow eyes brighten as she said, "I will not fail."

**XXXXX  
**

"Thanks, Sonic!"Knuckles looked at the mirror, feeling very satisfied.

"Sure, no problem."replied Sonic, putting down the tenth comb of Knuckles's.

"Oh, just in time."Knuckles checked his watch and opened his laptop. When the connection is established, a familiar face appear on the screen : Tikal!

"Hello everyone!"Tikal waved at them. She blushed a little because she didn't think that their 'web cam date' would be found out by the others.

"Hey, Tikal!"The others waved back, except for Knuckles.

"Hi-H-H—Hel-Hello- Tikal!"Knuckles spoke nervously. Sonic and Tails had to cover their mouths to prevent themselves to laugh out loud.

Tikal brought her attention back to Knuckles. She laughed a little at Knuckles' kinda stupidity. Then, she replied back, "Hello, Knuckles!"

A few moments later, Tikal smiled even happier, she said, "I have some good news for all of you."

"Really? What it is?"They all asked.

"I'm going..."Tikal talked slowly, and then fast, "to your college next term!"

"Oh my, is that true?!"Amy and Cream pushed the guys aside and stood in front of the web cam.

"Yes!"Tikal nodded. However, within her cobalt colored eyes, there was something that is unknown to others, except for Knuckles, who has now successfully squish himself in the middle of the two girls and in front of the laptop screen.

Something is wrong. Kunckles's first instinct told him. Tikal had other problems too.

When he was just about to ask, Tikal quickly ended the conversation. "Err... I have other things to attend to..." She looked to her right and to her left few times. She saw something, and was terrified by it. This facial expression was noticed by all of them.

"What's wrong, Ti-"Amy tried to ask, but she was interrupted by Tikal, "Sorry, I have to go now."

_Conversation end._

Two words appeared on the screen. Tikal ended the call.

"What happened?"Each of them looked confused to the other, hoping to get an answer.

Suddenly, Tails shouted, "Oh no, we are going to be late for the next class!"

"What?! Can't you see Tikal is in TROUBLE? You're still worrying about class?!"Amy screamed back.

The next second, Knuckles spoke in a calm tone, "It's fine."

"W-H-A-T?!"Everyone became even confused.

"Tikal's life is not in danger, I can feel it."Knuckles explained, "But she is some kind of trouble."

"Then, what should we do now?"asked Sonic.

"We have to go to our classes first, we don't know what Tikal is facing, but we can't help her now. The college and her village is so far away."said Knuckles.

"But we can't be doing anything!"said Cream and Amy in a very high pitch.

"Look, let me analyze the whole thing very quickly."Knuckles took a deep breath, "Tikal can't be calling us if she is in grave danger, right?"

"You're right..."The two girls replied softly with their heads down.

"Let's just all calm down."Sonic spoke. He turned to Tails, and asked, "Tails, is your Tornado III still working?"

"Yeah, I think. But I haven't checked it this month, I'll just go check it later."

"You go do that, we'll be needing it later. And erm... you go to your class first, Technology Gadgets and Inventions class starts in the next two minutes."Sonic patted Tails's shoulder.

"Okay, you handle it from here?"Tails asked him, as a reassurance.

"Yup."Sonic nodded.

"Bye everyone, see ya after two hours."Tails waved his hand to the gang, and ran towards the direction of his class.

As soon Tails' figure disappear along the corridors, Knuckles turned to look at Sonic, giving him a what-are-you-thinking look.

Sonic understood his facial expression. He said, "We'll go get Tikal in the evening, just as class ends."

Knuckles nodded in agreement with his idea.

But, Amy asked, "How are we suppose to know where she is? We only know she is near her village!"

"We won't have problems with that."Sonic answered with confidence, "Knuckles _feel _with Tikal can lead us." He laughed a little after saying the word 'feel' with great 'emotion'.

"Fine, laugh all you want Sonic."Knuckles rolled his eyes, "But thanks, for the idea, of, erm, getting Tikal."He spoke sheepishly.

"No prob."Sonic blinked.

**XXXXX**

After grabbing a couple of chilli dogs and some fatty burgers for Knuckles and Tails, Sonic rushed to the meeting area, where the Tornado III was parked.

Tails was examining his plane while Knuckles was standing at the side of the platform, doing nothing. The winds blew his hair, but to Knuckles, it seemed to bring the sweet scent of Tikal here. A few deep breaths later, he walked back and towards Tails.

Sonic arrived in seconds. He tossed two burgers to each of them.

"Mmm... A fatty burger to keep cool. And fat was suppose to keep warm! Ha!"said Tails as he smacked his lips. He quickly teared open the paper wrap to have a big bite.

Knuckles was still holding his burgers, he didn't eat it nor sniff it. He only stared blankly at the open sky.

"Aren't you hungry?"Sonic asked, eating one his chilli dogs.

Knuckles remained silent. As he was about to ask if he should save one for Tikal, Tails spoke, "C'mon, eat some! The girls will be preparing some... I don't know... I think girl-stuff for Tikal and us, they didn't say. Girls cooking for another girl, nothing can go wrong. But we are boys... Ugh, never mind."Oil was accidentally spitted out from Tails's mouth as he was speaking.

"All right."Knuckles said. Finally, the burgers got his attention. Just in a minute or two, or maybe three, the two burgers was gobbled up by Knuckles.

Sonic and Tails stopped chewing their food during the three minutes. "Boy, that guy sure can eat,"they both thought.

About fifteen minutes later, the three guys had their dinner and was ready to go!

"All clear... Engines START!"

_VROOOOMMMM! BRRROOOOOOOMMMM!_

"Heading towards...!"Tails shouted, but he stopped because he suddenly realized he didn't even know where they are heading. "Uh, where are we heading?"He asked.

"Hm..."Knuckles closed his eyes and focused. _Tikal, where are you..._

He was concentrating so hard that he felt his head hurt. But then, he saw images of Tikal, and heard her voice!

"_I'm sorry, that is the only fruit I have left..."_

"_Everything is going to be okay... No.. Don't cry..."_

_Where is that place? _Knuckles thought. The place was full of Chao, but it is not Chao Island... It was like...

"Angel Island!"screamed Knuckles. opening his painful shut eyes.

"Why is she there?"Sonic asked him.

"I don't know. But I do know there are a lot of Chao there, with Tikal."

"Well then, we'll know all of this, erm, stuff, when we get there."suggested Tails. "So, HEADING TOWARDS Angel Island!"

Tails increased the plane's speed. A wisp of greyish smoke was what people could only see after the speedy plane flew across the evening sky.


	3. Chapter 3 - The Chao

**CHAPTER THREE : THE CHAO**

The Tornado III flew into the dusk fog, and emerged from it. Night was falling. The three boys could see a blur figure of the moon hanging high above the deep red sky in which had a shade of purple.

"We're here! Angel Island is right down us!"Tails exclaimed.

Oh and he was absolutely right. The shrine of the Master Emerald could be seen from high up, it must be Angel Island! But something was weird. The shrine was damaged, burned. Also, some small blue-ish figure was lying on the grass...

"What happened here?"Sonic stared blankly at the ruins.

"Something. Something not good."replied Knuckles.

"I'll be landing now, you two hold on tight!"Tails pressed the 'land' button and turned the steering.

The plane landed with a loud _vroof. _The blue figures that were nearer to the plane ( but of course not directly below it ) got startled. They made a screaming sound and cried.

Those were no ordinary living thing, they are the Chao!

Sonic and Knuckles hopped out from the plane first. They saw the Chao and were now carefully approaching it. "The Chao!"said Tails in a shock tone, but was ignored by the other two who had already realized what those living things was.

"Shh... Shh..."Knuckles held out his hand to one of the Chao. He petted it.

The Chao stopped crying but it still looked terrified. When it had recovered from the shock, it ran off.

"Let's follow it."suggested Sonic. Knuckles and Tails nodded in agreement.

Just as they were about to step out a foot, a voice, soft and weary, called out from behind a pillar, "who's there?"

Knuckles knew exactly who that voice belongs to. "Tikal, it's me, Knuckles."

"Knuckles?"Tikal repeated, she thought it was her imagination. How could Knuckles suddenly be here? But she walked out from behind the pillar anyway.

"Oh, Knuckles!"Tikal ran towards them as soon as she realized Knuckles, "what are you – why – ?" She was so surprised she didn't even know what to say.

"Hehe... it is a long story..."Sonic directed his words to Tikal, but his attention was on Knuckles. He pointed his head to the disappearing rays of sunlight : _It's getting late. We should head back._

Knuckles got his message. He said to Tikal, "C'mon, let's go. We are taking you to our college."

"But-"Tikal wanted to say something.

However, Knuckles interrupted, "Everything is taken care of, you will have a place to stay."

"No! What I mean is -" She tried to spoke again.

Knuckles cut her off, again. "You will be safe there."

"NO!"Tikal's voice covered Knuckles's one this time, "WHAT ABOUT THE CHAO?!"She partly screamed.

"Oh."The three boys faces were now full of exclamation marks. They forgotten all about the little blue fellas.

Sonic and Knuckles had no idea how to take about twenty over chao back to the college, but Tails spoke now, "Erm, the Tornado III has a special feature. But I'm not sure if it works... I never tried it before."

Sonic and Knuckles turned to Tails. With thoughts of hope, they asked, "What feature?!"

"Well,"Tails explained, "I installed a special feature, named 'extend'. When I press the button, the Tornado III should extend and expand into a large airplane enough to fit ten people inside. And since the chao are small, they can fit in, no problem."

"Then what the hell are you waiting for?! Press it then!"Knuckles slapped his forehead.

"Oh. Whoops."Tails stuck his tongue out playfully. "I'll go attend to it straightaway!"

Tails ran off to the Tornado III.

"Tikal, can you gather all the chao in one place?"Knuckles asked Tikal.

"I think I can."Tikal nodded, "I have been living with them, for... quite a while."

"What?"Knuckles did not quite understand what she meant by "quite a while".

But Tikal didn't answer him, she walked away to the middle of the ruins.

Tikal whistled, and spoke in a clear and loud tone, "Gather!"

Almost next to no time, twenty over Chao gather around Tikal. Sonic and Knuckles gawked in awe and mouthed a silent "woah".

As soon as the Tornado III expanded, Tikal, along with some help from the three boys, brought the Chao up to the plane. When everything was settled, Sonic, Knuckles and Tikal each sat down on a sit.

"Let's depart then. Emerald College!"shouted Tails, but there was no response.

"Hey, what are all of-"Tails grumbled while he turned his head to look at the others. Tikal was asleep, some of the chao were also yawning, going into a sleeping mode. Looks like they hadn't been able to sleep well and peacefully for quite some time.

Sonic and Knuckles were staring into thin air. They were tired too.

"Owh..."Tails yawned, "Y'all are so lucky. No wonder people say smart people are actually the dumb ones. I am sooo tired and yet I can't rest."

Tails went back to focusing on the plane. They were all exhausted. The one thing they want most now is to go back to the college, gobbled a whole load of food, and rest.

**XXXXX**

A distant _vroom_ caught Amy's attention. Her ears twitched to get a clearer sound.

Amy put down a bowl of salad she was holding. She walked out from her room and into the common room. The sound was getting louder and louder.

Amy's green eyes brighten, as she knew what that sound was. "They are back! YAY! Oooh, I can't wait to see Tikal!"Amy thought.

She quickly ran back to her room to tell Cream, who is now putting finishing touches to the salads they both made.

Before Amy could say anything, Cream blinked at her and said, "Your hero is back."

Amy giggled. She happily replied, "Oh yeah, they are back. C'mon, let's bring all the salads and burgers to the cafeteria."

When the two girls got to the cafeteria, they saw Sonic running towards them. He was shaking his head, and at the same time making a take-all-the-stuff-and-follow-me gesture at them.

Amy and Cream didn't know why Sonic wanted them to follow him, but they followed the instructions anyway.

They caught up to Sonic very quickly. ( as he was not running at maximum speed ) Immediately, Amy asked him, "What's wrong, Sonic?"

"Well..."Sonic thought for a moment before answering her. "We have some tiny problems."

The three of them walked into a slightly-dense forest near their college.

"We're almost there. Tails parked the Tornado III at a more remote place."Sonic told the two girls.

They reached the parking area of the Tornado III in a few minutes.

"Hello, Cream! Hey, Amy!"Tails called out at the sight of them. "Did you bring the food? I am starving! The other two slept like a log during the whole journey, while I had to focus like hell to steer the plane! Oh man, I'm dying over here!"

Cream was holding Tails's share of the salad and burgers. Therefore, she walked to Tails.

"Here you go, Tails."Cream handed out the food.

"Thanks, Cream!"Tails said. He took the food and started gobbling them down like a hungry crocodile.

"Hey, eat slower, you're going to choke."Cream giggled at the hungry Tails. For the first time, she thought Tails looked pretty cute.

Everything was peaceful when suddenly Amy screamed, "Ahhhh!"

Cream and Tails immediately turned their heads to see what happened. But there was nothing dangerous! They also saw a little blue figure walking towards Amy.

_A chao? _Cream thought to herself. _This must be a long story._

"Oh my!"Amy continued to scream, "Chao! Aww, they are adorable!"

Tikal just got off the plane, she was carrying the last chao. "Well, that's all of them."she said.

"TIKAL!"Amy ran to her and hugged her.

"Hello, Amy!"Tikal returned her hug.

"What happened? Why are all these chao here?"Amy asked.

"It's a long story..."Tikal sighed, "I'll tell all of you, after I put a protecting shield. The chao... They have no where to go now."

"Okay, do whatever you need to do. I understand."Amy gave her an encouraging hug.

Tikal recited some weird poems. Everyone remained silent, they do not want to interrupt Tikal. After the poems was recited, Tikal glowed and a bubble-like ceiling emerged right up their heads.

"Woah, that is cool."said Tails, chomping down the last bite of burger.

When everything was settled ( including feeding the hungry chao with some salad ), everyone sat in a circle, ready to hear Tikal's story.

Tikal closed her eyes, regaining herself. Images of what she saw was flashing in front of her. It was horrible to her.

She took a deep breath, and said, "It started... when my father decided to take away the Master Emerald and the other 7 chaos emeralds."


	4. Chapter 4 - Tikal's Secret

**I know there are a lot of flashbacks in this chapter ( cause' I wrote it :P ), but please be patient and read on. These flashbacks would be crucial in later chapters. **

**Well, enjoy Chapter Four : Tikal's Secret! :)**

* * *

**CHAPTER FOUR : TIKAL'S SECRET**

"The whole happening... It was just like only yesterday."said Tikal as she shook her head. Deep disappointment was what she felt.

_( Flashback One )_

_The emerald shrine was being consumed by a wave of fire. It was hot, dangerous, and killing._

"_No, father! Please, don't do this!"Tikal stood between the chao, the shrine and her father warriors. Her arms were wide open, creating a blockage using her own body._

"_Tikal, get out of the way!"ordered Tikal's father fiercely._

"_Father, please, I beg you. Greed will only bring more destruction, it is our greatest enemy!"cried Tikal._

"_Bah!"spat the proud leader. "I do not need a little girl's words to make a decision!"_

"_Please, don't."Tikal said softly, hoping her father would change mind in this short second._

_There was indeed some hesitation in the leader's mind, but he made his choice. It was a choice that betrayed one's conscience. A choice that teared the last thin string that was holding the family together. "Knock them down, warriors! Do not show mercy!"he ordered._

"_No, no, no!"screamed Tikal, but it did not change anything. The warriors charged to the front, heartlessly knocking down Tikal and the surrounding Chao without hesitation. _

"_No..."mouthed Tikal silently, her heart breaking apart. _

_It was devastating. Tikal couldn't do anything to stop her father, the only thing she can do now is teleport all the chao and herself to safety. And so, she did. She heard some screams just as she left, but it was probably a so-called warrior attacking scream or some violent slogan her father came up with. But that was only what she thought._

_( Flashback One paused )_

"How could your father do such a thing? You're his daughter!"said Amy angrily. She became emotional after hearing part of Tikal's story.

"I don't know."Tikal shook her head. "I don't know."she repeated again, with a blank look on her face.

Knuckles gave her a warm hug as an encouragement. Tikal smiled at him, saying, "Thanks, Knuckles."

"Then what happened?"Sonic urged her to continue.

"Yeah,"Tails also spoke, "we saw you at Angel Island with all the chao. The Master Emerald is still there. What happened after wards?"

Tikal's head downed. As she continued to explain what happened...

_( Flashback One continued )_

_Tikal, along with the chao, went back to Emerald Shrine after some time. The fire was put out mysteriously. The fire was burning like a angry monster before, but all, just disappeared._

_The ruins was almost the same just before Tikal left, which means something must have happened._

_Tikal looked around the remains of the Shrine. However, she didn't care what happened, she didn't care about her father anymore ; she was tired and exhausted of talking to a person that will never listen to her._

"_I never thought he would do this to me. I thought, he still treats me as a daughter."said Tikal to a chao standing beside her._

"_Chao! Chao!"the chao made the usual squeaky sound and gave her a little nudge._

"_At least I still have all of you."Tikal petted the chao._

"_Chao..."The chao enjoyed the pet._

_Then, Tikal noticed something. The 7 Chaos Emeralds were gone, but the Master Emerald is still there._

"_Wonder why he did that? Didn't he want to take all of the Emeralds, want to gain full power?"Tikal asked herself._

_Tikal walked up the stairs of the shrine. It was clean. Too clean. There was no rubble around the Master Emerald, not even a speck of dust, as if... Something big had sucked everything away._

"_What has happened here after I left? Oh no."Tikal asked the Master Emerald, although it would not reply anything._

_( Flashback One end )_

"This is weird."said Tails once Tikal paused. "How could there be no rubble? Weird."he said the word 'weird' again.

Everyone remained silent for some moments, each thinking what really happened at the Shrine.

_Maybe it was Eggman? _Sonic thought, as the only one he can think of that is up to no good is the fat red guy.

_Maybe... aliens took them? Maybe it was someone related to Cosmo! _Tails thought, he still missed Cosmo. It had been so long, but he has never forgotten. There had been a few girls that had a crush on him, but he did not date any of them. How could he ever forget Cosmo and fall for another girl? She was unique, fun, and loving. _Cosmo... _Tails felt some tears gurgling at the corner of his eyes.

After a while, Cream spoke, "Err... Tikal?"

"Yes?"replied Tikal.

"You seem worried when we were talking to you through the webcam. And erm... How did you get your laptop?"

Tikal made a little 'oh' sound, and mumbled, "I almost forgot..." Then, she started to explain.

_( Flashback Two )_

_After a day or two, Tikal was running out of fruits. The fruit bearing trees nearby won't bear more fruits until next month, they will all probably starve to death before it does. So, Tikal decided to risk going back to the village to get some fruits from her own home, and get her important communication tool, her laptop._

_At nightfall, she entered the village through a secret passage only their family and the warriors knew. It was pretty easy, because there wasn't much villages. Most of them were already at home eating dinner, or listening to the adventurous stories their children had for the day._

_When she walk past a house, which is close to her home, she accidentally overheard bits of the family's conversation._

"_Where is our leader?"_

"_He just disappeared!"_

"_Oh my, his daughter disappeared too!"_

"_What?"_

"_Not to mention half of our warriors!"_

"_Oh no..."_

_There was some guessing and joking in the conversation, but Tikal didn't hear much of it. She was only curious. "How did my father and the other warriors vanished?"she thought._

_However, there was no time to loose. Tikal needs to get her laptop and the fruits as quick as possible, and leave. If she was caught by a patrolling warrior, she would surely be locked in her house until her father returns. It was no different than house-arrest. Also, given that her father had vanished, who knows when will be the next time she steps out of the house._

_Tikal tipped-toe into her house. She put some fruits into a basket she brought and went into her father's room, where her laptop was located. She was careful to be quiet._

_Tikal opened the drawer which her father hid her laptop. A bunch of documents was covering the laptop but it was pretty easy to find. She rummaged through the papers and saw her laptop right away. She took it, and ran back to Emerald Shrine._

_( Flashback Two End )_

_( A few suns and moons took turns to rose to the sky. )_

_( Flashback Three )_

_A few days later, Tikal remembered her 'webcam date' with Knuckles. She quickly switch on her laptop._

_During the conversation, there was a commotion behind the bushes. There were some rustling sounds. Tikal thought it was one of the warriors, or her father suddenly appearing. Therefore, she ended the conversation in case the chao and herself need a quick getaway. _

_Tikal slowly approached the bush, asking with a steady voice, "Who is behind the bush?"_

_Two heads bobbed out from the bush. It was just two chaos that was looking for food. Apparently, Tikal was out of fruits, again._

_( Flashback Three end )_

"Well, that is my story."Tikal said when she finished.

"Oh, the poor chao!"said Cream, as she had a chao herself, "They must be really hungry! No wonder they ate so fast when I offered the salad!"

"Yeah, one of them nearly bit my finger!"said Amy, holding up her hand. The others looked at her awkwardly, so she smiled and added "But it is okay. They didn't do it on purpose."

Everyone had a good laugh, and now it was time to rest. The college's large clock gonged twelve times, which means a day has past, it was now midnight.

"Well, now all of us are here! Nothing is to big for us to handle as long as we are together!"cheered Amy.

"YEAH!"agreed the others.

"C'mon, Tikal. Cream and I will show you to our room. The Student Management Centre had agreed to let the three of us share a room."Amy winked.

"Thank you so much!"Tikal smiled brightly.

"Woah! How did you two _persuade _the Management Centre to give you girls a room?"Tails was shocked at the news, "It took me a year before I got to share a room with Sonic, you know?!"said Tails angrily, who was recalling the 'persuasion scene' which made him really mad.

Amy and Cream stared at Tails, as if what he said was the most bazaar thing ever. Cream was the one who replied him, "WHAT? You took A YEAR? You just need to sign some papers! And _that_ took a year? Maybe they were shock that boys would want to share a room."Cream giggled.

"Yeah, you have a point there."replied Tails.

"Alright everyone!"Knuckles finally spoke, he did not spoke a word when Tikal was talking. "Tikal needs to rest, we-"he pointed at himself, then to Sonic and Tails, "need to rest."

"Okay, okay."The two girls nodded.

"But the chao-"Tikal was most worried about the creatures.

"They will be fine here. You put the protective shield, no one would want to enter this area. You can come visit them tomorrow morning, don't worry."Knuckles assured her.

"Okay, Knuckles."Tikal smiled at him.

"Well,"Tails yawned, "everything is settled, right? Let's all go get some sleep. I never realized I love my bed so much."

* * *

**How is my story so far? Pls drop a review, thanks! :)**

**By the way, I will be adding a new character, named Laura the Fox, created by myself. I will introduce more of her later on. :3**


	5. Chapter 5 - Trouble in the Holidays

**Hello, everyone! :)**

**This chapter will have some Tailsream parts!**

**By the way, the camera-like thingy from Chapter One will appear again...**

**Drop in a review after reading! It will be much appreciated! :D**

* * *

**CHAPTER FIVE : TROUBLE IN THE HOLIDAYS**

The first term of the gang's third year has finally ended. It was now the holidays! Amy suggested that they go for a nice vacation to let loose of their stress, all of them agreed excitedly. It has been a while since they all go for a holiday. However, Tikal wanted to stay back, she is still worried about the chao. So, Knuckles also turned down the offer. He, of course, would surely stay by Tikal's side.

"Y'all have fun!"said Tikal to Amy, before she depart with the others.

"Aww, it is such a pity. You haven't been to Emerald Coast before! I wish you can see the stunning view of the waves."replied Amy.

"Don't worry, Tikal and I will have our own fun here."Knuckles spoke to Amy, proudly. But, he didn't realized the sentence he just said had some... problems.

"Oh?"grinned Amy, evilly.

"What?"Knuckles stared at her, not knowing what she was laughing at. It was a few seconds later when he realized what he had said. He said, blushing, "NO, THAT WAS-! YOU GOT IT WRONG! What I meant is-"He spoke, stuttering.

"Oh, no worries."Amy gave a pat on his shoulder, and whispered,"I know _exactly_ what you mean."

This time, Tikal blushed too, although they weren't going to do anything Amy thought.

"Hey!"Sonic called out to Amy, "Time to go!"

"Okie!"Amy smiled back.

**XXXXX**

The two boys dived into the cold, refreshing sea for a swim, while Amy and Cream stayed on the sand for a lovely sunbath.

When it was time for lunch, the girls lay out the food. Sonic and Tails only arrived when everything was settled.

"Hey! You two didn't help at all!"grumbled Amy. She stomped her feet like a little girl as she pull Sonic's cheeks without mercy.

"Ouch! Ok—Ouch! My apologies, Miss Rose!"Sonic bowed, while being punched a little by Amy.

Amy stopped 'attacking'. She went along with him, and said in a serious tone, "I will make an exception today."

"A hundred thanks, Miss Rose!"Sonic laughed.

While the hedgehog couple teased and chased each other, the other two friends were having a more civilized interaction.

"Tails,"said Cream as she took out a container from the picnic basket, "you seem to like the salad I made that night. So... Here you go!"

Cream handed him the container of salad, her cheeks red and slightly hot.

_Why am I blushing? _She asked herself in her thoughts. _Do I like Tails...? Not really... But I like to see his cute face and his smile... Oh golly! What the heck is wrong with me?! We all had been friends for so long! How could I suddenly like him? _Cream slapped herself in her mind to make herself more conscious of what she is thinking. _Even if I do like him, he will never like me back. He loves Cosmo... Wait, what am I thinking? I do not even like him! Then, why am I blushing?_

"Oh, gosh."said Cream after having a wrestle with her own thoughts.

"Cream?"Tails swang his hand right in front of Cream blank eyes, "Are you okay? What 'gosh'?"

"What?"asked Cream, stupidly. "Oh, nothing!"

"Err... Okay..."Tails put down his hand, but he pointed to the direction of Cream's hand, "Hey, you are still holding the container."

"Oh, sorry!"Cream handed the salad to Tails now.

"Well, thanks!"Tails appreciated.

Everything seemed to be normal and peaceful. However, the four of them did not realized two small camera-like gadgets were flying around them and eavesdropping on them.

**XXXXX**

The sun was setting. The sky was colored with orange, yellow, red and all sorts of colors! It was stunningly beautiful. Not to mention the fluffy white clouds that looked like cotton candy...

Sonic and Amy were taking a walk along the sand. Amy loved to be with Sonic, alone. They finally had some private time together.

"Sonic."said Amy.

"Yes?"

"I like these times. Just you and me."Amy smiled as she said her words.

"Yeah, me too."Sonic smiled back, his eyes focusing on her. Sonic loved Amy, a lot actually, but he did not express his love for her as she did. He liked to do it low-profile style.

About 20 meters away, Tails and Cream were doing their own activity.

Cream picked up a shell. She touched the natural patterns of the shell and looked closely at it. "Wow, what a pretty shell!"she said happily. "Tails, come have a look!"

Tails, who was making a sand-angel, got up. He excitedly asked, "Where?" But as soon as he took a step forward, he was hit on the back of the head really hard. Tails lost balance and fell front down.

"Ouch..."he groaned, with a face covered in sand.

At the same time, the thing that hit him cursed "damn it." But the sound was too small to be heard.

"Oh my gosh, Tails! Are you okay?"Cream ran to him, asking worriedly.

"Yeah... Though my head still hurts a little..."muffled Tails, because there were some sand in his mouth.

Then, he spat the sand out, cursing, "What the hell hit me?!"

They both look around to find the object, but there was nothing except for trees, sand and water.

Suddenly, Cream noticed a small gray gadget lying on the sand, not far from where Tails fell. It was half buried.

The gadget was quite small, it was about the size of a person's thumb. Slowly and carefully, Cream picked up the gadget and showed it to Tails.

"Maybe it was this?"suggested Cream, holding the object between her fingers.

"What it this?"asked Tails as he took the object from Cream's hands. Also, as a Technology Gadgets and Inventions student, he examined the object according to the theory he learnt.

"It looks..."said Tails in an unsure tone, "like some kind of camera..."

When the gadget heard Tails said the word 'camera', it immediately released a charge of electricity.

"OUCH! MY FINGER!"screeched Tails.

The gadget was, naturally, dropped by Tails. Instantly, when it came in contact with the sand, it bursted into flames.

"Oh my."Cream stared at the wisp of smoke.

A strong ocean wind blew towards towards land. Just like magic, the whole gadget, including the smoke, disappeared without a trace.

"Woah. This is... crazy."Tails shook his head, clearing his thinking.

Moments later, Cream said, "I think we should tell Sonic and Amy about this. Let's all go back to the hotel first. Who knows what crazy stuff will happen next?"

"Alright."Tails agreed. "You go back to the hotel first. I don't mind getting hit or electrofied again, but you're a girl and I do not want you to get hurt."

Tails grabbed her shoulders softly, waiting for a reply.

Cream replied a simple "okay". She quickly turned her back towards Tails, because her cheeks were red again.

**CHAPTER FIVE : TROUBLE IN THE HOLIDAYS**

The first term of the gang's third year has finally ended. It was now the holidays! Amy suggested that they go for a nice vacation to let loose of their stress, all of them agreed excitedly. It has been a while since they all go for a holiday. However, Tikal wanted to stay back, she is still worried about the chao. So, Knuckles also turned down the offer. He, of course, would surely stay by Tikal's side.

"Y'all have fun!"said Tikal to Amy, before she depart with the others.

"Aww, it is such a pity. You haven't been to Emerald Coast before! I wish you can see the stunning view of the waves."replied Amy.

"Don't worry, Tikal and I will have our own fun here."Knuckles spoke to Amy, proudly. But, he didn't realized the sentence he just said had some... problems.

"Oh?"grinned Amy, evilly.

"What?"Knuckles stared at her, not knowing what she was laughing at. It was a few seconds later when he realized what he had said. He said, blushing, "NO, THAT WAS-! YOU GOT IT WRONG! What I meant is-"He spoke, stuttering.

"Oh, no worries."Amy gave a pat on his shoulder, and whispered,"I know _exactly_ what you mean."

This time, Tikal blushed too, although they weren't going to do anything Amy thought.

"Hey!"Sonic called out to Amy, "Time to go!"

"Okie!"Amy smiled back.

**XXXXX**

The two boys dived into the cold, refreshing sea for a swim, while Amy and Cream stayed on the sand for a lovely sunbath.

When it was time for lunch, the girls lay out the food. Sonic and Tails only arrived when everything was settled.

"Hey! You two didn't help at all!"grumbled Amy. She stomped her feet like a little girl as she pull Sonic's cheeks without mercy.

"Ouch! Ok—Ouch! My apologies, Miss Rose!"Sonic bowed, while being punched a little by Amy.

Amy stopped 'attacking'. She went along with him, and said in a serious tone, "I will make an exception today."

"A hundred thanks, Miss Rose!"Sonic laughed.

While the hedgehog couple teased and chased each other, the other two friends were having a more civilized interaction.

"Tails,"said Cream as she took out a container from the picnic basket, "you seem to like the salad I made that night. So... Here you go!"

Cream handed him the container of salad, her cheeks red and slightly hot.

_Why am I blushing? _She asked herself in her thoughts. _Do I like Tails...? Not really... But I like to see his cute face and his smile... Oh golly! What the heck is wrong with me?! We all had been friends for so long! How could I suddenly like him? _Cream slapped herself in her mind to make herself more conscious of what she is thinking. _Even if I do like him, he will never like me back. He loves Cosmo... Wait, what am I thinking? I do not even like him! Then, why am I blushing?_

"Oh, gosh."said Cream after having a wrestle with her own thoughts.

"Cream?"Tails swang his hand right in front of Cream blank eyes, "Are you okay? What 'gosh'?"

"What?"asked Cream, stupidly. "Oh, nothing!"

"Err... Okay..."Tails put down his hand, but he pointed to the direction of Cream's hand, "Hey, you are still holding the container."

"Oh, sorry!"Cream handed the salad to Tails now.

"Well, thanks!"Tails appreciated.

Everything seemed to be normal and peaceful. However, the four of them did not realized two small camera-like gadgets were flying around them and eavesdropping on them.

**XXXXX**

The sun was setting. The sky was colored with orange, yellow, red and all sorts of colors! It was stunningly beautiful. Not to mention the fluffy white clouds that looked like cotton candy...

Sonic and Amy were taking a walk along the sand. Amy loved to be with Sonic, alone. They finally had some private time together.

"Sonic."said Amy.

"Yes?"

"I like these times. Just you and me."Amy smiled as she said her words.

"Yeah, me too."Sonic smiled back, his eyes focusing on her. Sonic loved Amy, a lot actually, but he did not express his love for her as she did. He liked to do it low-profile style.

About 20 meters away, Tails and Cream were doing their own activity.

Cream picked up a shell. She touched the natural patterns of the shell and looked closely at it. "Wow, what a pretty shell!"she said happily. "Tails, come have a look!"

Tails, who was making a sand-angel, got up. He excitedly asked, "Where?" But as soon as he took a step forward, he was hit on the back of the head really hard. Tails lost balance and fell front down.

"Ouch..."he groaned, with a face covered in sand.

At the same time, the thing that hit him cursed "damn it." But the sound was too small to be heard.

"Oh my gosh, Tails! Are you okay?"Cream ran to him, asking worriedly.

"Yeah... Though my head still hurts a little..."muffled Tails, because there were some sand in his mouth.

Then, he spat the sand out, cursing, "What the hell hit me?!"

They both look around to find the object, but there was nothing except for trees, sand and water.

Suddenly, Cream noticed a small gray gadget lying on the sand, not far from where Tails fell. It was half buried.

The gadget was quite small, it was about the size of a person's thumb. Slowly and carefully, Cream picked up the gadget and showed it to Tails.

"Maybe it was this?"suggested Cream, holding the object between her fingers.

"What it this?"asked Tails as he took the object from Cream's hands. Also, as a Technology Gadgets and Inventions student, he examined the object according to the theory he learnt.

"It looks..."said Tails in an unsure tone, "like some kind of camera..."

When the gadget heard Tails said the word 'camera', it immediately released a charge of electricity.

"OUCH! MY FINGER!"screeched Tails.

The gadget was, naturally, dropped by Tails. Instantly, when it came in contact with the sand, it bursted into flames.

"Oh my."Cream stared at the wisp of smoke.

A strong ocean wind blew towards towards land. Just like magic, the whole gadget, including the smoke, disappeared without a trace.

"Woah. This is... crazy."Tails shook his head, clearing his thinking.

Moments later, Cream said, "I think we should tell Sonic and Amy about this. Let's all go back to the hotel first. Who knows what crazy stuff will happen next?"

"Alright."Tails agreed. "You go back to the hotel first. I don't mind getting hit or electrofied again, but you're a girl and I do not want you to get hurt. Imma gentleman."

Tails grabbed her shoulders softly, waiting for a reply.

Cream replied a simple "okay". She quickly turned her back towards Tails, because her cheeks were red again.

* * *

**Tailream XD Hehe...**

**I'm so struggling here, cause' when I watched the episode when Tails shouted, "I love you' to Cosmo... IT WAS JUST SO SAD!**

**So... I'll just make my decision slowly. **

**NEXT CHAPTER : A NIGHT TO TALK**

**Chapter 6 would be about... talking. XD Just kidding, it would be way more than just talking. There will be more Knuxikal parts in the next chapter. :)**


End file.
